


tangled up in blue

by FullmetalChords



Category: Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: (but not the sexy kind), Alternate Universe, Character Study, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Multi, Post-Radiant Dawn, Time-Travel Threesomes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 06:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15407328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FullmetalChords/pseuds/FullmetalChords
Summary: “After the war,” he says, “I put Ragnell away for good. Couldn’t bear to touch it, after everything that happened. When I went into the wilds, I thought that carrying Urvan would be like having a piece of my father with me.”Soren hmphs, leaning back as he continues to study Ike’s doppelgänger. Ike himself frowns, trying to piece together the other man’s story. He comes from another history; that much is certain. He can’t imagine wanting to keep Urvan for himself after the war, and he certainly can’t imagine leaving Crimea without…“Soren,” he says, making both companions look at him. “Why were you alone? Why didn’t Soren — your Soren — go with you?”~~~While traveling the world after defeating Ashera, Ike and Soren come across a very familiar stranger.





	tangled up in blue

“You say Yune sent you?”

Ike crosses his arms, studying this newcomer, this… new Ike. He seems a bit younger, his face rounder, long bangs falling over the top of his headband. And, of course, he has Urvan sitting across his knees as they sit round the fire.

The new Ike grunts and nods. “Found me roaming Tellius alone after we defeated Ashera. Think she took pity on me.”

“Alone?” Ike repeats, looking to where Soren sits at his side. Soren has not taken his eyes off the visitor since his materialization in their camp; his gaze is strong enough to bore holes through the other Ike’s head.

“…Yes.” New-Ike’s gaze drifts similarly to Soren, holding his gaze for a long moment before he wrenches his sight back to Ike. “Not completely by choice.”

“Ike,” Soren says sharply, and they both look at him. “You don’t actually buy his story, do you?”

“He has my father’s axe,” Ike says, casting another look at Urvan. “He knows about you and me. I think he must be who he says he is.” He frowns. “Why _do_ you have my — our— father’s axe?”

New-Ike pushes his long bangs out of his eyes. “After the war,” he says, “I put Ragnell away for good. Couldn’t bear to touch it, after everything that happened. When I went into the wilds, I thought that carrying Urvan would be like having a piece of my father with me.”

Soren hmphs, leaning back as he continues to study Ike’s doppelgänger. Ike himself frowns, trying to piece together the other man’s story. He comes from another history; that much is certain. He can’t imagine wanting to keep Urvan for himself after the war, and he certainly can’t imagine leaving Crimea without…

“Soren,” he says, making both companions look at him. “Why were you alone? Why didn’t Soren — your Soren — go with you?”

New-Ike opens his mouth to answer, but can’t seem to find the words. It is Soren himself who answers.

“Because I died, Ike.” His voice is dull, flat, as he continues staring at the newcomer. “That Soren died in the war. Didn’t he.”

He does not phrase it like a question, but the other Ike nods nonetheless, slowly, as though it costs him something to admit.

“In the Tower of Guidance,” he says. He directs his answer to the axe in his lap, and not to either of the men in front of him. “You begged me to live on, no matter what happened. ‘Even if all the cities burn and the sea swallows Tellius…’” His voice catches halfway through the last sentence, and he has to pause to collect himself. “And so I did. For you.”

“I’m not him,” Soren says, although his voice, too, is shaking. “Don’t keep any promises for my sake.”

“Soren!” Ike chides, but it’s already too late. Soren is getting up, striding away from the light and warmth of the fire. Ike chances a glance at his other self, how wrecked the man looks in the face of the person he loves, walking away from him.

He tries not to think of how he’d feel if Soren, his Soren, had died in front of him too.

“Wait here,” he tells the other Ike, before leaving in the direction Soren had gone.

Soren is on the far side of their tent, looking far off into the forest, when Ike appears at his side.

“I can’t do this,” Soren says when he’s aware of Ike’s presence. There is tension in his jaw. “I can’t be there for you both.”

“We’re the same person,” Ike tells him. “I’m not saying you have to love him, too. But Yune sent him here to be with us because he hasn’t got anyone else.”

Soren’s arms are folded tightly; Ike can hear the air whistling out his nose as he breathes.

“I’m barely a person in the first place,” he says, his throat tight. “I-I’m not… whole. I haven’t got enough to give to make _one_ of you happy. You both…” He shakes his head. “You both deserve so much more than me.”

“Soren,” Ike says, hushed, before he takes him in his arms. If a bit of dampness spreads from Soren’s eyes to his tunic, he doesn’t call attention to it. “You are whole,”he says, resting his chin on top of Soren’s head as he holds him close. “You are loved. And I love you.” And Mist, and Titania, and Oscar, and Boyd, and Rolf, and Rhys, and Gatrie, and now this new Ike, too. All of them love Soren; not like Ike does, but they love him nonetheless. Ike wishes he could help Soren see how loved he is, that he deserves to be part of a family just as much as Ike himself does.

They stand there together for a moment, listening to the sounds of the woods, the sounds of the fire crackling behind them. When Soren finally murmurs, “I love you, too,” Ike pulls him that much tighter, running a hand over his long hair. “Let’s head back, shall we?”

He starts to go, but not before Ike pulls him back in, giving him a long, gentle kiss. He knows how clumsy he can be with words, nowhere near as eloquent as Soren is. But he kisses Soren, and Soren kisses back, and for once, none of Ike’s meaning has gotten lost. His feelings are clear, flowing between them, buffeting them both like the winds.

They wander back to the fireside together, where the other Ike still waits.

“I can’t go back to my world,” he says before they’ve found their seats. “Even if I knew how to reach Yune here, her powers aren’t what they were now that she’s been reborn—“

Soren speaks up before Ike can reassure him.

“We’ll need a new name for you.” Both Ikes look at him in surprise; he glares back at them both, impatient. “Well, I can’t be calling both of you ‘Ike’. It’ll get confusing.” He looks at the Ike holding Urvan. “Can I call you ‘Isaac’?”

Ike — Isaac — blinks at him in surprise. “Yeah,” he says eventually. “That’s fine.”

“Good.” Soren nods sharply. “There’s soup in the pot if you’re hungry. We’ll be heading east at dawn.” He gets back to his feet, hesitating as he looks at Isaac.

“I won’t replace the man you lost,” Soren says. His chin juts almost defiantly. “And I can’t… can’t promise there’s room in my heart for more than one of you. But you can stay as long as you want to.”

Blue eyes hold red over the fire as Isaac nods. “I understand.” Then he smiles; it’s brittle, almost like he’s forgotten how. “Thank you, Soren.”

Soren nods, stiff and jerky, before retiring inside the lone tent. Ike looks at Isaac for a moment before jerking his thumb over his shoulder.

“There’s room in there for three, if that’s okay.”

Isaac’s smile widens.

And when, in the morning, the three of them wake tangled together, Soren cuddling Ike’s chest while Isaac holds him from behind, Ike feels certain that the three of them will be able to work it out.

**Author's Note:**

> Some backstory to explain this: earlier today I was playing FE Heroes on my phone and FINALLY pulled Soren out the gatchapon. I already have Ike in both his Brave Mercenary (Urvan-wielding) and Vanguard Hero (RD) variants, and had a moment of panic while trying to decide which Ike to S-support with Soren. So, instead I wrote this.
> 
> (Ike also might just keep S-supporting himself because... those stat boosts.)
> 
> Didn't beta this, wrote it in an hour, also technically have not played _Radiant Dawn_ but shush
> 
> [tumblr](http://phoenixrei.tumblr.com)


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